The Parables
Series
#1
"GROUNDING THE GOSPEL!"
TEXT: Matt.
13:1-8; 18-23
INTRO: How well
grounded is the Gospel in your life?
Your walk with God is
determined by what kind of receiver you are and how prepared you are to let the
Gospel establish itself in your life.
The Gospel itself is never the issue; it is the quality of the reception
and what happens after it is received that is always the determining factor of
what quality or what life springs from that Gospel.
ILLUS: My
garden has taught me to think ahead. For it to be fruitful, I must plan. I
must build soil, plant, and nurture what I have planted. It has also taught me to hold the harvest
lightly. Over the course of a
season I can lose a crop to spring rains that rot the seed, slugs that eat new
shoots, rabbits that eat everything, hail that breaks the strong, and drought
that withers the weak. I can lose a crop because of my ignorance or my
carelessness. Until I have the
fruit in storage, where it can also spoil, I live with uncertainty. I do my best, work faithfully, and
hope. -- John
Leax in In Season and Out. Christianity Today, Vol. 35, no.
1.
The farmer who plants a field
of corn is responsible for what condition the ground is in to receive the seed
of corn, as well as the continued care that field of corn gets. The corn will sprout, but the crop will
be determined by the ground and how it is readied for the
seed.
PROP.
SENT: This parable of Jesus teaches
us that we are responsible for the way we receive the Gospel, and that how we
receive it will determine how well grounded we become in God's Kingdom; how
productive our faith is!
I. SOCIAL CHRISTIAN Matt. 13:1-4;
19
A. Convenience Matt. 13:1-4
1. The “way-side” (KJV) (“path”
NIV) was part of the landscape too.
a. This was the “hard” ground.
b. This was material so hard that
nothing would grow on it.
c. This is part of the landscape of
human culture too. There are those
that are unreceptive to the Gospel of Christ even when they receive the truth
about God; no matter how much they receive or hear, they will not experience any
life from it. They are hardened to
eternal things.
2. Not interested in receiving the
Gospel or God.
ILLUS: Dial-A-Prayer
has been around for years. The
Tampa, Florida, chapter of American Atheists installed a 24-hour telephone line
called "Dial-An-Atheist." We wonder
if anyone burdened by guilt, anxiety, or fear will seek comfort from
"Dial-An-Atheist." Most churches in
the area are not worried about the competition. -- Robert
C. Shannon, 1000 Windows, (Cincinnati, Ohio: Standard Publishing Company,
1997).
3. This does not necessarily mean this
person is out right evil in their actions, they may even desire the benefits of
the Christian lifestyle.
a. To be thought of as a moral
person.
b. Thought of as a good
citizen.
c. Maybe even thought of as a
religious person.
d. Thought of as an unselfish
person.
e. Good social standing in
community.
4. But for some reason their hearts
and minds have shut down to accepting God’s Gospel
completely.
B. Condemned Matt.
13:4,19
1. No life therefore can sprout ... it
never gets the chance!
2. The fowls in Jesus’ story represent
the devil & this world.
a. Attention is drawn away from the
truth of the Gospel thus this person never thinks about the sermons he/she
hears, God's Word, etc.
b. They don't feel a need of God or
church except as a social status issue.
ILLUS: The
meaning of earthly existence lies, not as we have grown used to thinking, in
prospering, but in the development of the soul. --
Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Leadership, Vol. 7, no. 3.
c. The Devil tricks these people into
thinking they are good enough without the Gospel, thus they never feel their
need of God.
3. The ground of their existence is
condemned to be barren of eternal fruit ... their life is truly empty of real
meaning, they live just a barren existence.
II. STONY CHRISTIAN Matt. 13:5-6;
20-21
A. Contented Matt. 13:5,20
1. Content with the Gospel as long as
things don't have to change or life doesn’t become too big of a
challenge!
2. Sees church as existing for own
benefit, instead of existing for the church's benefit.
a. This kind of Christianity rises and
falls on temporal things, not eternal things.
b. As long as temporal things are well
this person’s faith is ok; but if earthly matters become difficult they don’t
see value to spiritual truths or living in a spiritual way, and they thus
abandon their faith … there is no depth to their
faith.
ILLUS: I
prayed for Faith, and thought that some day Faith would come down and strike me
like lightening. But Faith did not
seem to come. One day I read in the
tenth chapter of Romans, "Now Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word
of God." I had closed my Bible, and
prayed for Faith. I now opened my
Bible, and began to study, and Faith has been growing ever since. -- Dwight
L. Moody, Leadership, Vol. 10, no.
4.
3. Faithful while things are going
smooth, but when problems come develop their commitment is
gone!
a. Ironically there are 2 extremes to
those whose focus is this way; one group gives us easily their faith. (Lack of Faith
movement)
b. The other group denies earthly
problems and simply confesses positive faith and wealth in order to deny all
problems and difficulties … they will do this as long as possible until it can’t
possibly work any longer!
(Hyper-faith movement)
4. Jesus clearly identifies that this
kind of “grounded” Christian won’t survive the “hot” times that come. When the pressures of life come crashing
in, when the heat is on, these “shallow rooted” Christians will not endure …
they have no depth to their faith and relationship with
God.
B. Callous Matt. 13:6,21
1. Weak hearted ... no depth to the
commitment to Christ.
2. These believers are committed as
long as they are doing well and conditions are favorable. Any pressures and they can’t handle
them.
3. They have a
root problem! Though on
the surface things appear good there is no strong foundation to support them in
a time of crisis. These Christians
have never set down deep enough roots to establish themselves for the storms of
life.
4. They don't want to go deep, they
prefer life to be easy!
ILLUS: I
often visit newcomers in town and find them to be church shopping. They want to know what they can get out
of church. Churches are one more
consumer commodity. Worship
services are not a place for us to serve God and neighbor but a place where
people expect to purchase the best:
inspiring worship, good music, moving sermons, quality child care. As if we buy God and not vice versa.
--
Arthur Boers in The Other Side (May/June 1989). Christianity Today, Vol. 33, no.
11.
a. And since life isn’t easy these are
often frequent casualties in our churches.
b. They are the “up and down”
Christians in America.
c. These are the Christians who run
from church to church, and ministry to ministry or doctrine to doctrine
desperately trying to find something to make their lives and faith something
easy to follow … with guaranteed results with the least amount of commitment and
work necessary.
III. THORNY CHRISTIAN Matt. 13:7;
22
A. Choked! Matt. 13:7
1. This Christian is interesting …
they are deeply rooted, have developed well, but have never thought about the
concept of “intrusion”
a. Every gardener knows that you can
plant good seed, have great plants, but if you allow weeds to grow alongside
your plants they will intrude on them and choke the life out of
them.
b. The idea here is the same, these
are well grounded Christians who let life’s good stuff as well as bad stuff
intrude so much into their way of life that they become “Worry warts.” This kind of intrusion thus stunts their
growth and fruitfulness.
2. Energy is consumed by constant
worry over matters of everyday life.
a. This plant does NOT die; it fails
to become fruitful however!
b. This is the sad reality of many
Christians!
c. There is enough solid rooting to
stay alive, and the ground is good … but the plant is choked by too many other
things to produce the fruit it is suppose to produce.
d. It is a tragic thing to grow
wonderful plants in good soil to have them simply exist and fail to produce any
satisfying fruit in the end. They
fail to live up to their intended purpose when this happens. God must feel this way about unfruitful
Christians too.
3. Can't express joy ... even worry
about worrying!
ILLUS: Worship
and worry cannot live in the same heart; they are mutually
exclusive. -- Ruth
Bell Graham. Today's Christian
Woman, "Heart to Heart."
4. Can’t get involved ... too many
problems in life, they can’t see or get beyond them.
B. Consumed Matt. 13:22
1. Sees life only in the material
realm ... all energy diverted by getting more and more of this life, or worrying
more and more about this life.
ILLUS: I
once heard of a child who was raising a frightful cry because he had shoved his
hand into the opening of a very expensive Chinese vase and then couldn't pull it
out again. Parents and neighbors
tugged with might and main on the child's arm, with the poor creature howling
out loud all the while. Finally
there was nothing left to do but to break the beautiful, expensive vase. And then as the mournful heap of shards
lay there, it became clear why the child had been so hopelessly stuck. His little fist grasped a paltry penny
which he had spied in the bottom of the vase and which he, in his childish
ignorance, would not let go. -- Helmut
Thielicke in How to Believe Again. Leadership, Vol. 6, no.
2.
2. There may be little time for God,
or God's people; too many demands, the result is a life choked or consumed, very
little life left for God and spiritual development!
a. Growth is retarded, can't be by
nature what it should have been.
b. Spiritual growth becomes retarded;
we can't be what our new nature in Christ has intended us to
be!
c. There will be a noticeable lack of
fruit by living this way!
d. A plant that has to put all of its
limited energy into just staying alive can't produce any real fruit ... just a
stunted life.
IV. GROUNDED CHRISTIAN Matt. 13:8,
23
A. Constant Matt. 13:8
1. Growth happens with normal and
natural effort!
2. Fruitfulness naturally occurs with
good ground!
3. A strong plant results from good
soil conditions, and good care.
a. It is important to note that two
things are happening here:
(1. Good soil conditions are
necessary.
(2. Good care of conditions around soil on an
ongoing basis is necessary also.
b. The seed will naturally grow when
the conditions are right.
4. The person who will listen to God's
Word and obey it is always on good ground with God!
ILLUS: The
fruit of the Spirit grows only in the garden of obedience. -- Terry
Fullam, Leadership, Vol. 6, no. 3.
a. A strong rooted plant can resist
many kinds of natural disasters too.
b. It is strong not just because of
what is on the surface, but because of the strong roots that have been
established!
c. It is also strong because the area
around the plant has been kept clean and uncluttered so the plant is not
choked.
d. This is also true
spiritually!
B. Crops! Matt. 13:23
1. The plant multiplies itself when it
is healthy, in God's Kingdom there is no such thing as simple addition ... just
multiplication!
a. One seed doesn't produce just
another one ... but 30, 60, or a hundred fold!
b. In nature as well as in spiritual
things life gives way to multiply many times over itself, not just producing one
more of its own kind.
2. It is easy for this kind of seed to
grow and give life to another generation of plants, it produces
fruit!
ILLUS: "In
the early French revolution, the schoolboys of Bourges from twelve to seventeen
years of age formed themselves into a Band of Hope. They wore a uniform and were taught
drill. On their holidays, their
flag was unfurled, displaying in shining letters the sentence, 'Tremblez,
Tyrans, nous grandirons!' (Tremble, Tyrants, we shall grow up!). "Without any charge of spurious
enthusiasm, we may in imagination hear the shouts of confidence and courage
uttered by the young Christians of the future, as they say, 'Tremble, Oh enemy,
we are growing up for God!'" -- Mr. S.
R. Pattison's Address at the Meeting of the Baptist Union, 1869 -- Charles
Haddon Spurgeon, The Quotable Spurgeon, (Wheaton: Harold Shaw Publishers, Inc,
1990)
3. The crops are the result of
evangelism of strong healthy plants (the result of the church as a whole, not
just the Pastor!)
a. There is investment by many to keep
the “ground” clean of weeds.
b. There is good soil to work with,
the responsibility of the individual.
c. It
is the combined forces of good soil and good toil that brings forth good
fruit.
CONCLUSION: The Gospel can only flourish
in the person who has prepared their ground properly ... and continue to have a
clean environment, uncluttered.
What kind of Christian are you? Is the Gospel grounded in you, and are
you producing fruit?